What’s the worst that could happen?...

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything, not even my mortal soul. That belongs to Nintendo...

Summary: Sometimes, everything that goes wrong can be traced back to a single event. But what can you do about it...? Depends on how determined you are...

Note: This fic will have some pretty dark reference in it, so if you don’t like the thought of any of the Pokémon characters dying, do not read this fic. Thou hast been warned.

Speech. Thoughts. Pokémon talking.

The human’s eyes filled with tears as she tried to make Celebi understand why she had to do this. “And I can’t do it without your help!” she pleaded. “Please, for the sake of, everything, help me.” She fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably, her long red hair falling forwards, almost long enough to reach the ground. The Celebi looked at her, considering its options. The human had certainly made a good argument, Celebi couldn’t deny that, but helping her in the way she was asking it to would break the promise all Celebi’s had once made to Ho-oh; never use your time powers to help humans change the past. However, Ho-oh hadn’t told them what to do if the human asked out-right. He’d assumed that they’d be sneaky about it, saying that they just wanted to see what the past was like, when they were actually planning on meddling with it. This human had come to Celebi’s forest, called it on a Time Flute, a relic that Celebi didn’t know still existed anymore, and explained why things needed to be changed. She hadn’t tried to hide anything, not even her obvious distress. Celebi looked into her heart and saw pain, sorrow, and determination: if this Celebi refused to help her, she’ll find one who would. No matter what it takes, she’ll achieve her mission. Celebi sighed. It looks like it had no choice. “Bi, Cele, Bii-biiii!” It started calling on its Time travelling powers. As the air around the human started to glow, she stood up and smiled, although her bright blue eyes were still filled with tears. “Thank you, Celebi. I promise, you won’t regret this.” As she vanished with a flash of light, Celebi sighed. <I hope you’re right, I really do. Good luck.>

“Ash, I can’t believe you got us lost, again!” A girl with long brown hair screamed at one of her travelling companions. “What do you mean, ‘I got us lost’, May?! Max is the one with the Pokénav!” The boy, who had short, messy black hair indicated a younger boy next to him. “Yeah, but you’re the one who insisted that this was a short-cut!” May snorted. “Now I know why Misty told me to never let you read the map. It’s because you can’t!” “Well, then it’s your fault we’re lost for not listening to her, so there!” Ash stuck his tongue out at her. “Oh, real mature, Ash!” May turned her back on him. “Whatever!” Ash turned his back and started muttering under his breath. “It’s not my fault we’re lost.” Max sidled over to the oldest member of the group, a tall boy with short brown hair, and whispered, adjusting his glasses through habit as he did so. “Um, Brock, shouldn’t we calm them down or something?” Brock sighed and glanced down at Max through apparently half-closed eyes. “No. I got pretty used to this kind of thing back when Misty was travelling with us. Those two would argue just about every single day, sometimes just because they didn’t have anything to argue about in the first place.” He laughed softly at the memory.

“Anyway, if there’s one thing I learned from being with them, is to just let them work it out themselves. Eventually, something will happen, and they’ll forget all about the argument. Although, it might take a while, so it might be pretty quiet for a while.” They smiled at each other. That sounded like a good thing. Just then, the trees in the forest around them started to glow brightly, and the air was filled with the sound of an odd, chiming bell. “Wha-what’s that noise?!” May stuttered, nervously taking a few steps closer to the others. Ash looked around. “I-I don’t know, May, but it seems, I dunno, kinda familiar.” Brock nodded. “Yeah, same here Ash.” “Why are the trees glowing like that?” Max whispered and moved closer to May. Suddenly, Ash remembered where he’d heard that noise before. “Hey, I know now! That’s the sound a Celebi makes when it’s using it’s time-travelling abilities!” Brock nodded. “Yeah, you’re right!” Max stopped being scared. “A Celebi? Wow! It looks like it’s coming from over there, let’s go!” He ran off. “Max, don’t...!” May called. “Come on, we’ve better go find him.” Ash ran off too. “So much for being quiet for a while.” Brock shrugged as he ran after his younger friends.

“Um, guys, you’d better come have a look at this...” Max called out as he stepped forwards nervously. “What is it, Max?” Ash stopped, panting as May and Brock came up behind them. “Look.” Max pointed. They stared at the clearing ahead as a tall red-haired woman materialised out of the air in the centre and flopped face-down onto the ground. “Do you think, maybe, Celebi brought her here?” May asked tentatively as the group nervously stepped forwards to surround the woman. “Well, I doubt it was Santa Claus, May...” Max rolled his eyes. Brock nodded knowingly. “Yeah, Santa doesn’t bring girls, no matter how much you ask...” he blushed as they all stared at him, and Ash gave a small cough. “Riiight... moving on.... I wonder where she comes from? Or should that be when?”

Pikachu cautiously sniffed the woman, and his long pointed ears twitched as the scent filled his delicate nose. “Pii-ka! Pikachu-pi!” He looked at Ash and gestured excitingly at the woman. “Uh, huh? I don’t follow...” Pikachu slapped its forehead and started digging through his trainer’s backpack. Pulling out a slightly worn photo, he showed it to the group. Slowly, so they could keep up, he pointed at the woman, and then at the photo, or rather, one of the people in it. “Pika,” he pointed at the woman. “Chuuu,” he tapped his tiny black nose. “Pikachu-pi.” He pointed at the photo. Ash took the photo and looked hard at it. “Wait... she... smells like..... Misty?!” he glanced down at the woman and back at Pikachu. “Are you sure, buddy? I mean, yeah, they’re both red-heads, but...” Pikachu jumped up and slapped the back of Ash’s head with his tail. “Pi!” “Okay, okay, you’re sure, I got it.” They all stared down at the woman. “But, I still don’t see why...”

(Just so you know, in the next bit, she’s still face-down. Although this might seem a bit heartless on their behalf, they decided not to move her, in case she was injured, okay? Right, back to the story.)

“Uhhhh...” Brock looked over the cooking pot at the woman. ‘Hmm, for a moment there, I though she groaned.. Guess I imagined it.’ He returned to stirring the contents of the pot carefully, so as not to spill anything. Slowly, the woman rolled over, sat up and held her head. “Ugh, maaannnn, temporal hang-over... sooo not fun...” “Hey, guys, she’s awake...” Brock called out to the others, who were tending to their individual Pokémon. Max was helping, as he had no Pokémon of his own, but they all looked over at Brock’s call. The woman winced. “Oww! Volume control. Find it. Use it. Seriously.” Ash came over and looked down at her. “I guess time-travel gives people a headache... Who knew?” The woman stiffened at his voice, and finally looked up at the group, blue eyes widening with shock. “Well, THIS is unexpected... although, I should have known...”

Ash, Brock, May and Max all stared blankly as the woman hugged Pikachu, who was happily licking her face. He raced up the moment he’d seen her face, and leapt into her arms, cooing softly. “Come on, cut it out, Pikachu! Your tongue tickles!” she giggled. Glancing up at the stares she was receiving, she blushed and sighed. “I guess, I should, maybe, explain, huh?” Standing up, she swayed slightly, holding her head. “Preferably, sitting down, somewhere, ugh...” She shakily made her way over to a nearby fallen log and sat down, still holding Pikachu. “Ah, that’s, a bit, better...” She sighed deeply. “Okay, it’s time, I guess... sit down, and I’ll try to explain as much as I can.” ‘Even though they’re much too young to know... But it’s the only way that they’ll understand why I had to come back...’

“Firstly, as Pikachu has guessed, or maybe smelled, I am Misty. Just, not the one that you know, obviously.” Ash looked at her curiously. “But, how can you be Misty?! You’re too... uh, um...” he trailed off, realizing that the word he was thinking of could get him killed if she was who she said she was. Misty smiled. “I believe the word you’re looking for, Hat-boy, is old. This,” she carefully stood up and indicated herself. “Is what your Misty will look like ten years from now...” They took in her long longs and hair, slender arms and fingers, thin frame, ears pierced with what looked like Cascade Badge earrings, and, in the boy’s case, her much more developed chest area... all accentuated by her clothes, which managed to bring out all her finer points, whilst still just being ordinary blue jeans and a yellow sleeveless top. “Who’s a scrawny little runt now?” Misty smirked at their reactions before sitting down. “Ten years is a long time for a girl, you know.”

“Anyway, I came back here because I’ve got, well, kinda a mission, I guess you could call it. Man, I’ve missed your cooking, B-Man...” she paused and gulped down another mouthful of lazy-boy-no-chew-stew, holding out the bowl for another serve. At their looks, she blushed. “What?! I haven’t eaten a decent meal in ages, okay?” After Brock handed the bowl back, she slurped nosily for a moment and sighed. “Okay, I’m good now... So, where was I? Oh yeah, my ‘mission’...” she sighed again, sadly this time, and all the energy seemed to drain out of her body. “Okay, I’m gonna tell you a few things about the next ten years, but don’t worry too much about them, okay? Because even though they’re pretty bad, with any luck, things will be different second time around. I’m gonna make sure of that.” She finished with a familiar fierce look in her eyes.

“Okay. Firstly, the thing that started all the badness...” she sighed and rubbed her temples. “Two days from now, Professor Oak will be at the lab, with Tracey of course, doing some basic, everyday research. Suddenly, without much warning, the Professor with suffer a major heart attack. It’s thought to have been caused by a previously undiagnosed heart problem.” Ash’s jaw dropped open. “What?! Oh no, not the Professor!” Misty nodded sadly. “I’m afraid so, Ash. Tracey panics, and by the time he thinks to call for help, it’s too late. Professor Samuel Oak dies in two days time, at the age of 54. But that’s just the beginning.” Everyone looked at her with shock. “What could possibly be worse than that?!” Ash exclaimed, his voice cracking with shock at the possible loss of his friend and mentor. Misty looked at him and shook her head sadly. “You have no idea...” ‘But you will soon...’

She slowly pulled out a picture of them and showed it to them. They instantly recognised it as the photo that was taken just a couple of months before, after they had all reunited in Pallet Town after returning from Hoenn and a double of the one that Pikachu had taken from Ash’s backpack. Misty was there, along with Ash, Pikachu, Tracey, May and Max. Professors Oak and Birch were on either side of the picture, with Ash’s mother next to Oak, smiling happily down at her son. They were all grinning madly, with Ash and Max both giving peace signs to the camera. Both Pikachu and Togepi were waving at Mr. Mime, who was of course, holding the camera. Brock however, was missing, as he didn’t arrive until the following day. Even though it was taken a short while ago, the photo seemed worn, and creased. “Hey, I remember that!” May exclaimed. “Yeah, back in Pallet Town, a few months ago...” Max grinned. “Why does it look so old though?” Ash wondered. “Remember Ash. Ten years.” Misty smiled faintly. ‘Ten long years...’

“After the Professor died, Tracey blamed himself for freezing up and not being able to do anything.” She pointed to him in the photo, standing as close to Professor Oak as possible and smiling. “You know how much he idolised the Professor... and having to watch him die... I guess Tracey couldn’t handle that.” She sighed deeply and looked up at them. “Within a year from now, he locks himself in a bathroom at the lab and cuts his arm open. The guilt of not being able to save the Professor was so powerful, he killed himself.” Ash turned pale white and stared as May held back a sob and Max sniffed. Brock shook his head disbelievingly as the news slowly sank in. Misty sighed again. “Unfortunately, there’s more...”

“After the two deaths at the lab, Pallet Town’s reputation suffered. Gary tried his best to keep the lab going, but trainers just stopped coming for Pokémon. They all decided to go elsewhere instead. Without their support, the lab fell into disrepair. Gary had to use his own personal money to fix it up, but let’s face it, he was fighting a losing battle.” Misty ran her finger through her hair and glanced at Ash. “Eventually, he realized it as well, and ended up selling the lab to, well, to be perfectly honest, I have no idea. All I know is that it was some businessman who, I think, was planning on placing a branch of his company in Pallet Town, or something like that.” She shook her head. “He must have changed his mind, because that was seven years ago, and he still hasn’t done anything.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Anyway, Gary was going to go to the Cinnabar Island lab, but the volcano blew its top, so he went back to the Sinnoh region. He helps Professor Rowan now.”

“Wait, when did Cinnabar erupt?!” Ash looked confused. Misty shrugged. “I dunno, a couple of months after Gary sold the lab, I guess. There was a brief evacuation of Pallet Town, in case of a tsunami, but nothing happened, so everyone went home.” “Oh. Who’s Professor Rowan? And where’s Sinnoh?” Misty shook her head. “All in good time, Ash. You’ll most likely find out in a few months or so.” Misty glanced at the picture again. “For a while there, things started to look up. May, you became a highly powerful co-ordinator. And Max, your father is training you to run the Petalburg Gym one day.” May and Max grinned and gave each other a high five. “Alright!” Misty smiled and looked towards Brock. “And Brock, you started a Breeding Center in Pewter City. A very successful one, I might add.” she smiled as Brock grinned. “Yeah?” she nodded. “Yep. And I know something that’ll make you very happy...” she teased. “Come on, what is it?” Brock leaned forwards. “You have a fiancé.” “Wooo-hooo!” Brock jumped up and shouted. “Who is she? Where is she? What’s her phone number?” Misty grabbed his ear and sat him back down. “Sorry, but that I can’t tell you. I can only really tell you the stuff I’m planning on fixing. The bad events that, hopefully, won’t happened this time around. If I tell you about her, well, just knowing who she is might change everything, and you will die sad and alone, Brock. You don’t want that, now do you?” she winked. “What about me?” Ash asked curiously.

After that brief moment of joy, the mood turned sombre again. Misty sighed. “Well, you’ve mostly tried to hold Pallet Town together, build its reputation back up by challenging various League tournaments. You didn’t do too badly, although it didn’t work as you’d hoped...” Ash’s face fell. “Oh. But I’m still training Pokémon, right?” Misty started fidgeting with the photo, turning it over and folding it, before unfolding it, again and again. “Not... entirely...” “What do you mean, ‘not entirely’?” Ash exclaimed. Misty fumbled and dropped the photo, quickly picking it back up and holding it like something precious. “You wanted to try and build some sort of storage facility for the Pallet Town Pokémon, seeing as they couldn’t be kept at the lab anymore, so you went back to Sinnoh, to the underground, to try and dig up some rare items to sell.” Misty’s voice cracked faintly as she started shaking. “There were troublemakers, messing around in the tunnels. Officer Jenny said that they were becoming a problem... You were in the wrong place, at the worst time... a rockslide... you didn’t come back...”

Everyone fell silent as Ash tried to process the news of his own death. “When was this?” Brock asked quietly. “A few months ago... just after his twenty-fourth birthday...” Misty almost whispered. “Although it seems like an eternity... to Delia, and Pikachu, and me...” she trailed off. After a short while, she stood up. “So, now you see why I needed to come back here, to this time. In my time, there’s a drug that can actually stop a heart attack. The problem is, it needs to be given DURING the heart attack, so I’ll have to time it right...” she sighed. “I have two days to get to Pallet Town, and save the Professor; and I won’t get a second chance. Celebi probably won’t take me back a second time...” At their startled faces, she smiled faintly. “I used an old family heirloom to call a Celebi that lives in this forest, but in another time, and asked it to help me. It brought me back, but if I fail here, I go home, back to the horror that is my life now.” she sighed and started walking away. “Failure is not an option for me.”

“Misty, we’re at least a months’ travel away from Pallet Town. How on earth are you gonna get there in just two days?!” Brock exclaimed, shaking his head. “It’s impossible.” Misty turned and smiled, removing a Pokéball from her belt. “That’s why I brought an old friend with me. Or rather, an old friend of Ash’s...” she casually threw the Pokéball, and in a blaze of pure light appeared Charizard. “Hey, Charizard!” Ash stood up, his fate temporarily forgotten. Charizard turned at Ash’s voice and stared briefly before suddenly running over and grabbing Ash in a hug, growling happily. “Hey! Charizard... can’t....breath....” Misty smiled. “He missed you, Ash. All your Pokémon do... especially Pikachu.” Max scratched his head. “Hey, wouldn’t Pikachu have been in the rockslide too?” Misty shook her head. “No. Ash left him with me, just in case he dug up a Thunderstone, and it caused Pikachu to accidently evolve. And no-one wants THAT to happen...” she smiled again at Pikachu. “So he’s safe, and lives with me.”

“So, come on Charizard, drop that, you don’t know where’s it been.” Charizard reluctantly released Ash and walked back to Misty’s side. “We’ve got a mission to do here, okay Charizard, so no distractions. We have less than two days to get to Pallet Town, so let’s jet.” She casually jumped up onto Charizards’ shoulders, and sat just behind his wings, leaning forwards and clasping the twin horns on his head. She stopped to nod at her young friends. “I’ll see you guys when I come back to get Celebi to take me home. Okay Charizard, let’s Fly!” Charizard started running forwards, picking up speed and flapping his wings. Finally, he lifted off the ground, clumsily at first, but slowly gaining speed and height. Ash and his friends watched as the pair briefly circled above them, before they flew away to the south-west. “Good luck, Misty...” Ash whispered.

Right, that was kinda depressing, but don’t worry, there is a happy ending. J. That is, if it turns out the way I’ve planned. It doesn’t always, so... I make no promises.

PROFESSOR WOLFSBANE.

17 Sep. 09.